How much time does Nathaniel Hackett have to get things working on offense?

After an abysmal game on Thursday Night Football last week, the Denver Broncos were left with more questions than answers. They have scored six total touchdowns and three of those came in a single game. The offensive ineptitude is on a level we’ve actually never seen before and that is saying something given the last six seasons of offensive struggles this franchise has faced.

At the end of the day, this issue falls at the feet of Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett. His job security goes beyond just the offense. The team has been riddled with dumb penalties and questionable game management. So it begs the question, how much time does Hackett have left to bring some resemblance of efficiency to these areas?

This is the question I posed to our staff in our final roundtable discussion for this week. I personally think General Manager George Paton will give Hackett the entire season. You only fire a head coach midseason for gross negligence or incompetence. While you could argue Hackett has been incompetent at times, I just don’t think the word “gross” could be added to it. And besides, who else would take his place from this staff and how would that improve the situation? No, the right decision is just to ride the season out and figure out which direction to go from there.

Sadaraine: I think he has three weeks. After a half of a season, we’ll know if the offense is doing anything to get itself on track. He sold himself as a guy who is going to have this offense humming. All we’re hearing is a wavering fart so far and if it doesn’t change, he needs to go. Not because I’m a fickle fan, but because if you are a guy with an offensive system, it should get online at some point in the first half of the season.

Scotty Payne: Next week? Broncos are 2-3, if you look inept and fall to 2-4, it’s basically over. Especially with a tough second half schedule. This was part of the schedule where they were supposed to get the “easy W’s” before the tough part begins. If you lose to the Chargers and look the same offense, it’s done.

Nick Burch: I give him to the halfway point only because I don’t see the point in firing a guy this early. But wow has he been bad. He needs a major turnaround for Paton to justify keeping him longer than the season.

Joe Mahoney: You can blame the offensive line, or drops, or an aging Russ who have been as shell of his pre-injury self so far, but if you are the HC and the OC, most of the blame is on you. The Broncos have 58 drives so far this year. We have as many drives ending with a turnover as we do ending with a touchdown.

Nearly half of our drives have ended with punts (26). 16 of those 26 punts were on 3-and-out drives. My only hope is that last night was rock-bottom and the offense will improve greatly from here, but Hackett has got to do something different in the next three games or he will lose the locker room, if he hasn’t already.

Adam Malnati: Not much. Nathaniel Hackett was hired to bring life to the offense. This team has been mostly lifeless on that side of the ball. And the worst part for Hackett is that Denver isn’t getting rid of Russell Wilson. Even with Hackett kind of throwing Wilson under the bus after the loss to the Colts, nothing will make him look like the better option than his QB. Even if they start playing well. So he better get that ship righted quick or he’s not going to make it to the bye week. Let’s call it 2 weeks to be kind.

Chad Workman: I know I’m going to be the outlier here, but I still say the full season, or close to it. If we fire him next week, where does that get us? Who’s calling the plays? Who becomes the interim head coach? If there was somebody on staff deserving and capable whom they wanted to get a look at, sure, but I don’t see that.

At the end of the day we’re five games in with a brand new head coach and a lot of first timers on staff, plus a quarterback trying to get in synch and merge offenses. Even if it appears slim at the moment, there’s still a chance they figure this thing out, especially as the schedule softens after the Chargers game. If Hackett gets fired now, you eliminate any chance. If anything, strip some of his responsibilities before firing him, like play calling. I wouldn’t mind seeing some sort of shared play calling duties between he and Kubiak, as it seems Hackett has more on his plate than he can eat.

Ian St. Clair: If the Broncos get embarrassed by the Chargers, that should be it.

Ross Allen: I’ll give Hackett until the bye week. If this team can’t show signs of life, or even possibly start to turn things around after facing of against the Chargers, Jets, and Jags, then there’s just about no hope for things ever getting better. It would be best to move on, and the extra week will be the best way to give the new play caller/ interim coach a little more time to get ready.

Mike DeCicco: The season. But if it happened sooner what’s the plan? Who is even remotely ready on this staff to take over?